Litwin
Platinum Member
Soviet Karelia was the target of Stalinist terror for a number of reasons. It was geographically located on the northwestern edge of the Soviet State, on the international border with Finland, which had gained its independence from the Russian Empire in 1917. Frequently, there was tension between Finland and the Soviet Union because of the border disputes, and because a large number of Finnish-speaking or Finnish-related peoples, such as the Ingrians and Karelians, lived in the Soviet Union. During the terror years, the minorities experienced hard times with deportations and forced migration as well as the liquidation of many group leaders and politicians.
Even though the Finns were a very small group, they were the target of a most intense terror in Soviet Karelia and their losses in terms of human life were perhaps among the heaviest in the whole of the country when seen in relation to the population figures of a given area. The reason for this is found in the widely disputed large-scale aims of the Stalinist regime, and in our case in the nature of the Finnish nationality group itself as well as in the problem of Finnish-Soviet relations.
1. On the roots of the nationality problem in Karelia
In the neighbourhood of Leningrad and in the northwestern border areas of the Soviet Union there lived several Finnish-related nationality groups. The most important of these were the Ingrians and the Karelians. The capital of Imperial Russia; St Petersburg, had originally been established by Peter the Great on the Ingrian homelands. The topic of this article is Soviet Karelia and its Finnish minority. For centuries Karelia had been a disputed area between Russia (the Soviet Union) and Sweden (including Finland until 1809 when Finland became a part of the Russian Empire) and the independent Finland. In both Ingria and Karelia the native languages were quite close to the Finnish of Finland. There are also many other similarities in, for example, a cultural sense. In Finland the Greek Orthodox Church has traditionally been much less influential than the Protestant State Church. The Karelians were scattered mainly throughout the areas between the Gulf of Finland and the White Sea. Of primary importance was the relatively small number of those minorities in the Soviet Union - in 1926 there were 135,000 Finns, 19,000 of whom were "Finns from Finland". Ingrians amounted to a total of 115,000 and Karelians living in Karelia 81,000, while there were 248,000 Karelians throughout the Soviet Union.1 In Finland, Soviet Karelia has generally been known as "East Karelia", as opposed to the "Western Karelian" areas located west and southwest of Lake Ladoga (particularly the Viipuri region on the Karelian Isthmus) which for centuries have been closely connected with Finland, or a part of it.
The population developments of Soviet Karelia help to explain the events of the Stalinist terror years. First of all, the native Karelian areas originally formed the Karelian Workers' Commune (Karjalan Työkansan Kommuuni ) in 1920. This was the idea of Edward Gylling, who was one of the unsuccessful revolutionary Red leaders in Finland in 1918. He fled to Soviet Russia and negotiated with Lenin about the state formation in Soviet Karelia. In 1923 the Karelian Workers' Commune became the Karelian Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic. After World War II there was a short period of the Karelo-Finnish Socialist Soviet Republic, and then again a return to the lower status of Karelian Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, because there appeared to be no basis for an actual Karelian-Finnish joint effort.
What of the Finns in Soviet Karelia? How many were they, and where did they come from? The number of Finns living in Soviet Karelia rose from about 1000 persons in 1920 (0.6 % of the population, Karelian Workers' Commune) to 12,088 persons in 1933 (3.2 %, Karelian ASSR) and decreased in 1939 to 8,322, or 1.8 %. What makes the numbers interesting is the rapid increase in the Finnish population from 1920 to 1933, by 11,000 persons, and again the rapid decrease from 1933 until 1939, by 2 The total number included in the Finnish nationality group in the Soviet Union according to the census of 1926 was 134,701, 85.5 % of whom lived in the Russian Federative Socialist Republic. It should be noted that the largest concentration of Finns was not in Karelia, but in the Leningrad area. Only one-tenth of the Finns in the whole country lived in Karelia.3
Even though the Finns were a very small group, they were the target of a most intense terror in Soviet Karelia and their losses in terms of human life were perhaps among the heaviest in the whole of the country when seen in relation to the population figures of a given area. The reason for this is found in the widely disputed large-scale aims of the Stalinist regime, and in our case in the nature of the Finnish nationality group itself as well as in the problem of Finnish-Soviet relations.
1. On the roots of the nationality problem in Karelia
In the neighbourhood of Leningrad and in the northwestern border areas of the Soviet Union there lived several Finnish-related nationality groups. The most important of these were the Ingrians and the Karelians. The capital of Imperial Russia; St Petersburg, had originally been established by Peter the Great on the Ingrian homelands. The topic of this article is Soviet Karelia and its Finnish minority. For centuries Karelia had been a disputed area between Russia (the Soviet Union) and Sweden (including Finland until 1809 when Finland became a part of the Russian Empire) and the independent Finland. In both Ingria and Karelia the native languages were quite close to the Finnish of Finland. There are also many other similarities in, for example, a cultural sense. In Finland the Greek Orthodox Church has traditionally been much less influential than the Protestant State Church. The Karelians were scattered mainly throughout the areas between the Gulf of Finland and the White Sea. Of primary importance was the relatively small number of those minorities in the Soviet Union - in 1926 there were 135,000 Finns, 19,000 of whom were "Finns from Finland". Ingrians amounted to a total of 115,000 and Karelians living in Karelia 81,000, while there were 248,000 Karelians throughout the Soviet Union.1 In Finland, Soviet Karelia has generally been known as "East Karelia", as opposed to the "Western Karelian" areas located west and southwest of Lake Ladoga (particularly the Viipuri region on the Karelian Isthmus) which for centuries have been closely connected with Finland, or a part of it.
The population developments of Soviet Karelia help to explain the events of the Stalinist terror years. First of all, the native Karelian areas originally formed the Karelian Workers' Commune (Karjalan Työkansan Kommuuni ) in 1920. This was the idea of Edward Gylling, who was one of the unsuccessful revolutionary Red leaders in Finland in 1918. He fled to Soviet Russia and negotiated with Lenin about the state formation in Soviet Karelia. In 1923 the Karelian Workers' Commune became the Karelian Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic. After World War II there was a short period of the Karelo-Finnish Socialist Soviet Republic, and then again a return to the lower status of Karelian Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, because there appeared to be no basis for an actual Karelian-Finnish joint effort.
What of the Finns in Soviet Karelia? How many were they, and where did they come from? The number of Finns living in Soviet Karelia rose from about 1000 persons in 1920 (0.6 % of the population, Karelian Workers' Commune) to 12,088 persons in 1933 (3.2 %, Karelian ASSR) and decreased in 1939 to 8,322, or 1.8 %. What makes the numbers interesting is the rapid increase in the Finnish population from 1920 to 1933, by 11,000 persons, and again the rapid decrease from 1933 until 1939, by 2 The total number included in the Finnish nationality group in the Soviet Union according to the census of 1926 was 134,701, 85.5 % of whom lived in the Russian Federative Socialist Republic. It should be noted that the largest concentration of Finns was not in Karelia, but in the Leningrad area. Only one-tenth of the Finns in the whole country lived in Karelia.3